Defending U.S. Open champion Andy Murray upset by Stan Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka serves against Andy Murray during their quarterfinal match Thursday at the U.S. Open.

Stan Wawrinka serves against Andy Murray during their quarterfinal match Thursday at the U.S. Open. (Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images)

Diane Pucin

NEW YORK -- On match point, Stan Wawrinka held three tennis balls in his hand. He finally picked one to serve and it wasn't a winner. He did the same thing on his second match point. Correct choice.

Wawrinka, a 28-year-old from Switzerland, where he has spent most of his tennis life in the shadows of 17-time major winner Roger Federer, eliminated defending U.S. Open champion and third-seeded Andy Murray in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals Thursday on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

This is the first time Wawrinka has played his way out of the shadow of Federer to advance to the semifinals of a Grand Slam event.

"It feels amazing for sure," Wawrinka said. "I'm just really happy to win in three sets. For me, I thought the first set was not easy, it was really windy. And at the end I was just trying to be focused on my game because I had too many things going through my head."

Next up for Wawrinka will be the winner of the night quarterfinal between top-seeded Novak Djokovic and 21st-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzkny.

Wawrinka seemed to be hitting so fast that Murray didn't have a chance to even take a step in the right direction. Murray broke a racquet after losing the first set but even that didn't seem to energize the listless Murray who played with little passion.